New and used automobile dealers typically manage a large amount of vehicle inventory. Vehicles located on the dealer's lot do not usually have a license plate affixed thereto. Instead, these vehicles are generally provided with a plate that has advertising indicia and is located where the license plate is normally attached. Vehicles are driven from the dealer's lot by a customer or salesman for demonstration or evaluation purposes. Further, vehicles may be moved from dealer's lots when traded with other dealers for customer or when purchased from automobile auctions. State laws often require a vehicle to be equipped with a dealer license plate whenever the vehicle is driven from the dealer's lot or automobile auction.
In order to affix a dealer license plate to the vehicle, the salesman may remove the advertising plate and substitute the dealer license plate. The salesman can then insert one or more screws through the dealer license plate in order to attach this plate to the vehicle in much the same manner as regular license plates are attached to vehicles. After the vehicle is returned to the lot, the salesman can then remove the screws and dealer license plate and reinstall the advertising plate. This method is time consuming in that the salesman must insert a set of screws once and remove the set of screws twice. Additionally, more time may be consumed in locating a screwdriver, for use in inserting and removing the screws, if one is not initially available. With the regularity of the need to affix and remove dealer license plates, such a method is problematic in that it requires a significant amount of time of the salesman, dealer driver and auction driver.
Devices have been proposed in order to address the need for a temporary mounting device for dealer license plates. Some devices employ a magnet onto which a dealer license plate is attached. The dealer license plate can be clamped directly onto the magnet, or the license plate can be affixed to a frame which is in turn attached to the magnet. This assembly is attached through magnetic attraction onto the body of the motor vehicle. Magnetic assemblies are problematic in that they can scratch the exterior of the vehicle. Magnetic assemblies are also known to become detached during normal use of the vehicle when passing over bumps in the road or otherwise experiencing vibration. Additionally, the dealer license plate will be more easily noticed by members of the public as the magnetic assembly can be placed at a variety of locations on the vehicle instead of only at the normal locations license plates are affixed. The chance of theft is thus increased as the magnetic assembly draws more attention from the public and does not require any tools for removal. Further, as the amount of dealer inventory is large, such magnetic assemblies are commonly misplaced and lost through the course of business. Also, vehicles are now and will be in the future made with less metal thus preventing the use of magnetic attachment.
Other methods of mounting a dealer license plate involve placing the plate in the rear window of the vehicle. This approach may be problematic in that a portion of the window is obscured thus negatively impacting the ability of the driver to see. Further, glare from the window may make the dealer license plate difficult to view. Other devices are known in which the dealer license plate is housed inside of a transparent window. These types of devices may be problematic in that the window can become dirty through the elements or through degradation of the material making up the window thus making it difficult to view the license plate.
It is also known to use different types of mechanical clamps or other devices to affix the dealer license plate to the vehicle at the same location the normal license plate is attached. Mechanical clamps of this sort often become lost at the dealer's lot through the course of normal business. Additionally, such clamps often do not securely affix the dealer license plate thus resulting in rattling or having the license plate fall off during driving. As such, there remains room for variation and improvement within the art.